Foot-operated revolver.



No. 64! 620. Patentod 'lan. l6

.1. ASTER.

FOOT OPERATED REVOLVER.

(Applicatipn filed May 24, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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llnrrsn STATES PATENT Erica.

JOSEPH ASTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Yf

FOOT-OPERATED REVOLVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,620, dated January16, 1900.

Application filed May 24, 1899. Serial No. 717,986. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH ASTER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of New York, in the borough of Manhattan and Stateof New. York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFoot-Operated Revolvers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved footoperat-ed revolver which isintended for the use of military bands, so as to permit the convenientfiring off of the revolver whenever shots are required for accentuatingcertain effects in a piece of music.

Heretofore it has been customary that the musician who attends to thebass drum, &c., also fires off the revolver when shots are required in apiece of music; but as in most cases these shots are required when thedrum, bass drum, and triangle are likewise required it is attended withsome inconvenience to him to quickly grasp the revolver and fire off theshots, as he thereby loses the use of the right hand, which is necessaryfor the playing of the bass drum, &c.

Thisinventiou is designed to furnish a conveniently-operated revolverfor the use of military bands, said revolver being operated by the footof the musician, so that he has still both hands available for use; andthe invention consists of a foot operated revolver which comprises acasing formed of two semisections hinged together and a stocklessrevolver secured in the front part of the casing, the trigger of whichprojects through an opening in the bottom of the casing and is operatedby depressing the casing by the foot, so as to fire the shots.

The invention consists, secondly, of a stockless revolver in which thespindle of the cartridge-cylinder is retained by an arm in a recess ofthe casing, so as to be securely held in position until releasedtherefrom when it is desired to withdraw the cartridge-cylinder for therecharging of the same.

The invention consists, lastly, of certain details of construction andcombinations of parts, which will be fully described hereinafter andfinally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent side elevationsof my improved foot-operated revolver, showing the same respectively inits normal position of rest and after being depressed by the foot. Fig.3 is also a side elevation with one-half of the casing removed so as toshow the location of the revolver at the interior of the casing; andFigs. 4 and 5 are vertical transverse sections, respectively, on lines 33 and 4 4:, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a revolver, which is formed ofthe ordinary partsnainely, a barrel, cartridge-cylinder, hammer,mainspring, trigger, &c.--but in which the stock is dispensed with. Thisre volver is securely attached to a cast-metal elongated casing B, whichis formed of two hinged semisections B B',which are provided with anopening at the front end in line with the end of the barrel of therevolver and with an opening in its lower part, through which thetrigger T projects to the outside. The casing B is preferably made inthe general appearance of a fish, the trigger being made in the shape ofa fin, the front end in the shape of the head, and the rear end in theshape of the tail of a fish. The tail-shaped rear end of the casing B isspread out laterally, so as to form a support for the rear part of theeasing, while the trigger is forked, as shown in Fig. 4, so as tosupport the front part of the casing. When the casing is depressed, thetrigger will be moved into the position shown in Fig. 2, it beingreturned by the mainspring int-o normal position as soon as the pressureon the casing is released. The two hinged semisections B B of the casingB are locked together by any approved locking device, the locking deviceshown in the drawings being composed of a spring-actuated pin d, whichenters a hole d in one semisection of the easing, while a push-pin dpassing through a .strikes on and fires off a cartridge.

The cartridge-cylinder Aturns on a center spindle A, which is providedat the front end with an arm A that extends into a recess a of thecasing, so as to be held firmly in position when the casing is closed.When it is desired to replace new cartridges in the cylinder, thespindle A is removed by releasing the arm A from the casing, after whichthe cylinder can be likewise removed and recharged. It is obvious thatblank cartridges without balls have to be used. The revolver used is ofthe usual pattern,in which the hammer is operated by the trigger when itis desired to explode the blank cartridges.

Myimproved foot-operated revolver is used in the following manner: It isplaced on'the floor near the foot of the operating musician. WVhen everthe signal for firing a shot is given, the ball of the foot is placed onthe top of the casing and the latter pressed in downward direction, sothat the trigger is pressed backwardly and operates the hammer and whichSimultaneously the cartridge-cylinder is turned in the usual manner onits axis, so that it is ready for the next shot.

The device is always ready for firing as long as there are cartridges inthe cylinder, the shots being produced by simply pressing the foot onthe casing of the revolver, which onables the musician to use both handsfor playing the other instruments to which he is assigned.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A foot-operated revolver, consisting of a casing,a stockless revolver in said casing, and

a trigger extending below said casing and adapted to be actuated onpressing on the easing, substantially as set forth. 2. A foot-operatedrevolver, consisting of a casing formed of two hinged semisections,means for locking said semisections together, a stockless revolver insaid casing and a forked trigger extending below the casin g, andadapted to be actuated by depressing the same, substantially as setforth.

'8. A foot-operated revolver, composed of a casin g formed of two hingedsemisections having an enlarged rear end, a revolver in said casinghaving a trigger-operated hammer, and a forked trigger, extending belowthe casing and forming the support for the front of the same,substantially as set forth.

4. A foot-operated revolver, composed of a metallic casing formed of twohinged semisections, having an opening at its front end, means forsupporting said casing on the floor, a revolver in the front part of thecasing, its barrel being in linewith the opening in the end of thecasing, a trigger projecting through a recess in the bottom of thecasing, and a looking device for holding the sections together,substantially as set forth.

5. A foot-operated revolver, comprising a casing formed of hingedsemisections provided with a front opening and an enlarged rear end, arevolver in the front portion of the casing, its barrel being in linewith the front opening of the casing, and a trigger projecting through abottom opening of the casing, means for locking the sections of thecasing together, and means for lockin g the spindle of thecartridge-cylinder to said casing so as to permit its removal when thecasing is opened, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH ASTER.

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, M. H. WURTZEL.

